Strictly Business
by Whatsername Stardust
Summary: Teddy Lupin is head auror in the Ministry's Dark Magic department. When given a baffling case, he hires a specialist. What happens when this specialist turns out to be a vaguely familiar almost forgotten face? Rating changed to M due to sensitive issues
1. Chapter 1

**AN: I realize that while both second gen, a daughter of Luna and Neville and Teddy would have an age gap. I worked out the math so that she's twenty one and he's twenty eight, which isn't unrealistic or creepy.**

**Please, read, enjoy, and review 3**

Teddy Lupin paced the low ceiling-ed office as he waited for his team. After seven years of hard work and training, he was finally chief auror of the Darkest Magic unit. His first assignment with his new team began today. Thankfully he'd been able to pick mostly his mates for his team, since among those he didn't know well, and those he did, he had a bit of reputation for being arrogant and overly stubborn. Harry, his god father who'd helped raise him following the death of his dad in the war, liked to joke all he needed was a smart and equally stubborn girl to come along and kick his arse into shape. And, also thankfully, his mates were some of the best aurors in the Ministry, because this case looked to be tough. There'd been a rash of bizarre killings in Leeds, England. Werewolf killings. But the problem was they'd happened before the full moon. Werewolves weren't supposed to be transformed not on a night of a full moon. So he'd been recommended a specialist, some witch who was an expert authority on magical plants and animals. She, Ricky Thomas (Ginny and Dean's son), Greta Miltix, George O'hanna and himself were going to try and figure out just what in the bloody hell was going on. He ruffled his reddish blonde hair with one hand and it darkened as he became impatient. His door swung open.

"Wotcher, Ted!" George sauntered through the door followed by the familiar faces of his co-workers and mates, now his team. And, at the very back, a seemingly unfamiliar face. But something about the witch's features ate at his mind, like he used to know her. And then, she spoke.

"Matilda Alice, at your service." Her dreamy voice was unmistakable, as was her odd double name.

"Matilda Alice…Lovegood?" Teddy raised an eyebrow.

"Indeed, Mr. Lupin. Say! Your hair isn't turquoise." She smirked.

Of course, he thought. The daughter of Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood would be a world famous naturalist. He hadn't seen her since…Merlin. He hadn't seen her since she was twelve, at King's Cross station. It had been the end of her first year, and he'd been picking up Victoire. They were dating then. Man his life had changed since he was nineteen. Her voice broke through his thoughts.

"So, what precisely do we know about these werewolves?"

"Well, we know they're transforming not on a full moon. They seem to be out to kill, not convert. There's at least twenty. They're only attacking people in Leeds, as of now. Based on investigations we've done, they seem to be camping out in the caves in the northern most part of the Chesterfeld forest, about fifty miles south of Leeds. And we suspect the escape of Fenrir Greyback from Azkaban a week before the attacks started is the catalyst."

"Alright. Any ideas as to how they're transforming?"

"I was thinking they could be reverse engineering wolfsbane potion."

"Teddy, that's bollocks and you know it. Give me a real idea. You know lycanthropy backwards and forwards, I remember you looking it up when we were kids."

Everyone in the room stared at her. Nobody ever talked to Teddy like that, nor did they mention his fascination with lycanthropy because of his deceased father. But here was this girl, who apparently knew him, storming in, raising her barely visible eye brows and calling bollocks on Teddy Lupin.

"It's perfectly possible to reverse engineer wolfsbane. It is in no way "Bollocks.""

"It is and you know it, you smarmy, arrogant bastard! Of course you can reverse engineer it, you can do that to anything! But it won't allow a werewolf to transform at any given time, it will simply speed his transformation on a night of a full moon!"

"Did you just call me a smarmy arrogant bastard?" Teddy was aghast.

"Yes. You deserved it too. We don't need a reverse engineering. We need a biological altercation…. Wait. Did anyone here grow up near the forest?"

"Yeah" George piped up, "Used to play there every night."

"Did you play there with Muggle friends as a child?"

"Of course."

"Did you ever play in a plant and get a rash, and have a friend get one too, from the same plant, but yours was different?"

"I don't think tha…Wait! Yeah, actually. His mum said it was poison oak, but his welts were little and red. Mine were bigger, and purple. Like, eggplant purple."

"Scarsburg leaf! That's it! It biologically alters the make up of any magical plant to do the opposite of what if biologically is intended to. In other words, if you brew wolfsbane potion with wolfsbane, and add scarsburg leaf, instead of preventing transformation, it causes it, regardless of the time of month."

"And wolfsbane does grow in the forest. Makes perfect sense. But the question is, who's making all the wolves?"

"Do you have any photographs? At all?"

"Yes. One photo of two of the newer wolves, shot by a man who saw his wife killed by them." Teddy handed Matilda the photograph. She examined it closely.

"Engorgio" she murmured and waved her wand at it. The picture enlarged.

"It's Fenrir." She declared.

"How do you know?"

"All werewolves have markings, from their original transformation. When they transform someone else, they get the same mark. Fenrir Greyback has a large circular mark on his left forearm. So do both of these wolves. He's working with someone, Merlin knows who, who is making these potions, feeding some to Fenrir so he can bite and make more wolves, and then feeding more potions to the victims to force them to transform." Matilda nodded and put the photo down and looked at Teddy, who sort of gaped at her.

"You're bloody brilliant."


	2. Chapter 2

Teddy's team gaped at the exchange, Teddy complimented IDEAS. Never people. They were also in shock that something the whole department had been puzzling over had just been solved by one girl in a matter of minutes.

"Thanks. It'll take some planning, but we should be able to take them down. But we need to do it FAST."

"I'll try and get a squad of reinforced Ministry vehicles together, some of our best duelists, and a team of healers. We'll probably need them. And O'hanna, start searching the databases for who Greyback could be working with."

Unfortunately, even with the entire department working, finding Greyback's potential partner was proving quite difficult. After almost two months, Teddy decided to gather the forces needed, and head to the Chesterfeld forest.

"We take out as many wolves as possible in this go. Maybe we can get all of them, but the attacks are escalating so the numbers of the pack may have too."

The past two months had been extremely stressful, with almost no time off for anyone working with Teddy. The only reprieves they got were Friday nights, when they all took off early and headed to the Three Broomsticks. Teddy and Matilda quickly reformed a comfortable friendship, and the other team members continued to be astonished by her quick wit and how easily she told off Teddy.

Finally the day of the attack arrived. Twenty four of the Ministry's most agile duelists, in two magically reinforced ministry cars, along with Teddy, Matilda and all the rest of the team headed for the forest, extremely early on a Tuesday morning. With the help of several strong silencing charms and cloaking spells and Matilda's keen eyes they spotted the hideout of the wolves.

The duelists and team members descended from the vehicles quickly and quietly, firing body binds every which way. A small contingent of the stronger duelists collected the bodies and put them in a third vehicle. As the wolves noticed what was happening, sound levels grew, as did levels of violence and chaos. Teddy snuck off to try to find Greyback. But the moment a killing curse was fired, the aurors and duelists took off running. After they were safely inside the cars again, racing silently to the ministry, they figured they were scott free. Except they forget that wolves have exceptional senses of smell.

The first attack was on Teddy's house. They weren't wolves, just wizards. But they were nasty. Then the minister's house was hit. And then the Ministry started the slow process of issuing skilled but little used aurors to households to set up complex and strong wards of every member of the department. It would take months.

Matilda was the first team member to notice the change in Teddy. The arrogance was gone, as was that spark of mischief that went with it. His hair was never a light shade of brown or red or blonde anymore, always dark and lackluster. She knew it wasn't just that he was worried about the mission. This was personal to him. One day she decided to just show up in his office, a box of chocolates, some butterbeer, fish and chips in tow.

"Eat." She said, pushing everything towards him "You look half starved"

"I'm fine"

"No, you're not. Tell all your other mates you're fine, I don't care. But don't even try with me. That's utter bollocks and we both know. Teddy, Greyback turned your father. And at the Battle of Hogwarts, he KILLED your father. This is personal to you. You're allowed to not be okay."

"What if I can't get him, Matty? What if he wins again?" she could barely hear him, his voice was so low and shaky. She walked around the desk and gave him a hug

"We'll get him, Teddy. Don't you worry."


	3. Chapter 3

Teddy was stressed to the max, worked half to death, and as sleep deprived as he had been when he had those recurring nightmares about his parents' deaths as a kid. He couldn't even control his morphing, so it was a good thing his hair and eyebrows had settled on a deep black, instead of a more obvious shade, like fuschia or puce. he ran his right hand through his hair and stared at the door. Matilda was twenty minutes late for their business meeting. Which was terribly unusual for his extremely tactful workmate. And in light of the recent attacks, and Matilda living in an unprotected flat, he was somewhat worried. What if she'd been attacked? The thought made Teddy unexpectedly angry, and protective. He shook his head. None of that he told himself. She's your team mate, you're worried about your team mate, she's a mate, you worry about your mates too. Another five minutes went by, and he kept pacing. Just as he was about to floo her place, the door burst open and Matilda basically flung herself through it. She was extremely disheveled looking, and was breathing quite hard.  
"I'm so sorry I'm late. Terribly sorry. Won't happen again, ever. Swear" she slid to the ground and laid her head on her arms, which she had folded across her knees. Her style was always eccentric, but until today it had been very business like as well. But today she had two different flats on, a pair of extremely wrinkled black trousers covered in cat fur, and a half buttoned blue blouse over paint spattered tank top. Her hair was not brushed either, leaving it in clumps of wavy platinum tangles sticking out every which way. He ignored a sudden urge to hug her and smooth her frazzled hair out.  
"Matilda, are you alright?"  
"No. Those bloody bastards working for Greyback staked out my flat. If I wasn't as quick with my shield charms as I am, I'd be dead, or worse right now. These were the only clothes I could easily find and grab before they got to me. I changed in a pub bathroom across town, and apparated here. And, well, yes. That's all." She looked up at him, her expression apologetic. He shook his head. Leave it to her to be sorry for getting attacked. Affection for the witch surged through his chest, reminding him of the odd protectiveness he felt earlier. He ignored it, pushing it to the back of his mind, as he had every time it happened. She was a team member, he told himself, of course he cared for her. It was nothing more than that. The fact that she was undeniably a very pretty woman, and a member of his team were getting mixed up in his head and making him think he had feelings for her. Yes, that was it. He sighed, and moved to sit beside her.  
"Will, you be okay? You didn't get hurt or anything? Do you need to talk to someone? Or do you need anything? Sorry, I'm awful at this."  
"I'll be fine. We do have a meeting to have though, which is now..." she glanced down to look at her watch, only to remember it wasn't there "Well I don't know how late because I don't know what time it is." She sighed, completely exasperated.  
"Meeting can wait, You should report the attack to the security head.I told him we needed to fix up everyone's living spaces, even the people who weren't high up in the department, but does he listen? No. Anyway."  
"I got a decent look at three of them, but there were two I didn't see at all, are you doing, Teddy?" her strangely emotive pale aqua eyes looked at him, obviously full of concern.  
"I'm an auror. I'm trained for this, of course I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"  
"Well, Teddy, as I've said, this isn't exactly an impersonal case for you. Greyback was the wolf who changed your father. And tried to kill him when he wouldn't fight for Voldemort. And the wolf who later killed him. You can be upset. It's healthy." she frowned slightly and knitted her eyebrows together. "Oh dear, I haven't offended you have I?" she looked at him expectantly.  
"No, not at all. You're just.. you're the only one who ever asks about that. And, actually, it's pretty hard. I pride myself on keeping my emotions out of my work, but the fact that it's him makes it really hard to do that. And he's attacking people who work with me, because he knows I'm trying to stop him, and he wants to hurt me. So, maybe I'm not fine, but I'm...managing. Yeah, I'm managing."  
"Well, I'm glad you're managing then. You obviously aren't sleeping well. The circles under your eyes are nearly as dark as your hair."  
"I just don't want anyone else to get hurt. Or changed. Or killed. And I'm head of this case, so I feel responsible, you know?"  
"Yeah. It makes a lot of sense." she yawned, stretching her arms in a manner oddly reminiscent of a cat "I have a feeling I'll be joining you in having under eye circles pretty soon. I don't know how I'll bring myself to sleep alone in my flat, at least until they get the protections up, and even then it'll be difficult." Teddy took a deep breath. This was probably an awful, awful idea. He didn't need to fight off more confused emotions, but he couldn't let his mate, one of his best mates he allowed himself to admit, stay alone in an unprotected flat.  
"Wanna come stay at my place? It'll take a few days for them to get to your house, and you shouldn't be there unprotected."  
"You'd let me crash with you? Really?"  
"Sure. You're one of my closest mates, and you can't be in that vulnerable of a position." Matilda turned slightly and gave Teddy a quick but tight hug. He caught a whiff of the way she smelled. Cherries and patchouli and sugar and... butterscotch? Oh merlin, he thought to himself, this will be the end of me.  
"Thank you so much, Teddy. I promise I'll return the favor. I'll make you breakfast on the mornings we start late enough for me to have time."  
"I'd say that's a fair trade. Now, we are taking today off. All the others are busy anyway. And you look exhausted." he and Matilda headed to the bank of fireplaces in the lobby. They couldn't use office ones right now, because they weren't very secure. He stepped into one of the fireplaces.  
"Come on. It's safer if we go together" Matilda stepped in beside him, pinching some floo pwder between her fingers. Teddy held her wrist lightly  
"Drop it as soon as I'm done with my address." she nodded "13 Buxington Avenue" in unison, they threw the powder down and vanished in the emerald flames. They appeared seconds later in Teddy's fireplace.  
"Password" a magical recreation of Teddy rose from the floor and looked at them.  
"Chocolate treacle pie" the figure disappeared and they both stepped out. Matilda gave him an inquisitive look about his password. "S'what my mum and dad ate for dessert on their first date. Harry told me."  
"That's sweet Teddy" she smiled at him and then yawned again, once again stretching in that oddly feline fashion.  
"You're beat. Let me grab you some more comfortable clothes. You can borrow something of mine" he wandered off to the bedroom, and Matilda looked around the room. On one wall were large pictures of the DA and the Order of the Phoenix. There was also an auror course completion certificate for 'Theodore Sirius Lupin', and a picture of Teddy with the Potters from a few years back. She smiled. It made her happy that even without his birth parents he'd been able to live a happy, full life. Teddy wandered back out of his room, holding some messily folded clothes in his arms.  
"Here. You're tiny, so they may be a bit baggy. But they should be comfortable." he handed her a pair of worn gray and black flannel pants and a black tanktop. She turned around, stripped to her underwear, and quickly pulled Teddy's clothes on. Teddy was startled at this sudden action, but realized that Matilda wasn't really the type to care if someone saw her in her underwear, seeings as it was really no different than a swimsuit. Still, he fought down an unwanted reaction, chanting his mantra in his head. Strictly business, strictly business, strictly business. He'd become really close to the odd blonde in the six months she'd spent on the case with him. She was, more or less, his best finished pulling his clothes on, swimming in the tank top because she was so tiny, and it was then he noticed something in her big aqua eyes was...off. More off than they should be in that situation. After all, she swore they didn't hurt her. But then, Matilda hated showing emotion. Teddy took a deep breathe, and took a big, big chance.  
"What else happened, Matty?"  
"Huh?"  
"Something else happened to you. Tell me. Please?" she closed her eyes and sighed.  
"One of them.. the one I didn't see.. he.. tried to stun me, but it only grazed me, so I wasn't totally out, but I couldn't really do anything. He.. he held me down and he...he.." she bit her lip and hid her head in her hands "He.. he raped me" she collapsed into a sobbing heap on the ground and Teddy reacted on pure instinct and ran to her, pulling her into his arms and rocking her while she cried. They stayed like that for several minutes, until Matilda's sobs subsided. Teddy was unspeakably angry and wished with all his heart Matilda had seen the culprit so her could hunt him down and beat the bloody hell out of the bugger. he gently lifted Matilda up.  
"I'm going to put you in my bed to sleep for awhile and go make us dinner, okay? And then after you rest and eat, we'll go have your skin and clothes scanned to try and trace the spells." she nodded meekly and followed him, shuffling slowly, looking weaker than she ever had. Teddy tucked her into his bed, and she closed her eyes.  
'


End file.
